


Pizza My Heart

by guineaDogs



Category: South Park
Genre: Cryle Week 2019, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenthood, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Sexting, Single Parents, Vanilla, characters in forties, characters in thirties, don't read this if you're in it for creek or kydi. those are past relationships, exes who interact with each other because they've got kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:15:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guineaDogs/pseuds/guineaDogs
Summary: Cryle Week, Day 3.Pushing 40, recently divorced, and being the primary caretaker of his four-year-old daughter, Kyle Broflovski doubted he’d ever have time to get back on the dating scene again. But sometimes life presents opportunities to love again in unexpected ways.





	Pizza My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> **First,** shout out to Rachhell! She has helped me a lot in brainstorming for this behemoth and it's hella appreciated.
> 
> **Second,** while Cryle is the main ship for this fic, future chapters will heavily focus on Steek. The third person POVs will switch out by the chapter. (IE, this one is Kyle-focused, the next one will be Craig-focused, etc. ) I'm about to get into busy AF season at work, so don't anticipate an update until after July is over, but it'll definitely happen at some point. I am invested af in this AU. 
> 
> **Third** , shameless self promo: [playlist for this AU](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iWwtxzT8LkRnMRDT0LDa2) and [an invite to flappy hats](https://discord.gg/Mbm4vK2), the Cryle Server I mod. It's open to anyone, so feel free to join.
> 
> **And finally** , please let me know what you think ♥

The repetitive  _ beep beep beep _ of his alarm roused him from his inadequate slumber. Five-thirty came far too early, as it always did, and Kyle felt like he’d not gotten any rest at all. Technically, he could have slept for another half hour or forty-five minutes, but this early wake up was essential to the start of his work day. This was the time he had to himself, and since he’d invested in a coffee pot with a timer, there was a fresh pot waiting on him in the kitchen, and he’d be able to enjoy his first cup before having to wake his daughter.

Sitting up and swinging his legs out from the bed took effort; his bed was warm, the blankets heavy and an incredibly sharp contrast from the relatively chilly air in his room and his even chillier hardwood floor. He was quick to fish his slippers from under his bed. Two paces to his window, he closed it, and exited his room, rounded about down the hall and headed to the kitchen.

Instead of being greeted with darkness and the faint blue from the kitchen window from the pre-sunrise sky, there was a sliver of glaring brightness from the fridge. Squinting, it took no time at all to see tiny feet wedged between between the fridge and door. So much for that cup of coffee in solitude. 

“What are you doing?” Even as he asked, he headed right over, quickly finding out for himself what Edith was doing: sitting at the base of the fridge, eating a goddamn stick of butter.

“Breakfast.” 

Kyle scooped the child into his arm, gently wrenching the half-eaten butter from sticky hands. “You can’t have butter for breakfast,” he told her matter-of-factly. He saw little point in talking to her in any other way than as a tiny adult, which she wasn’t, but between that and the daily book readings, it was a surefire way to ensure that her vocabulary developed.

He felt her tuck her head against his shoulder as he pilfered through the fridge for the container of fresh mixed berries from Safeway he purchased the day prior. “You can have fruit and either eggs or cereal.” 

Sticky fingers patted the side of his neck. “I want Cheerios.” 

Cheerios were easy. What was not easy was suppressing the grimace that resulted from the uncomfortable greasy sensation against his skin. “Let’s wash hands first.” Shifting Edith to his hip, he moved to the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet. He let the water run over the underside of his wrist until it felt adequately warm. A squirt of hand soap later, and Edith knew what to do. 

Theoretically.

“It’s hot.” She hadn’t even touched the water yet, merely slapping her hands together in a way that really wasn’t going to get them clean in a manner in which he’d prefer. 

“The water isn’t hot. See? I’m touching it. It’s not hot.”

“No, it’s hot.” 

It was really far too early for this. He took a deep breath. “Wash your hands, Edith.” Small mercies were that she actually  _ did _ without fussing over the water temperature. He was far too tired for the energy she had already had, but when she started singing her handwashing song, he mumbled along with her. 

“Wash, wash, wash your hands. Wash them nice and clean! Scrub them here, scrub them there, and scrub them in between!” 

Hands clean, child in booster seat, and Kyle made quick work of getting cheerios in a bowl, fruit washed, and milk out of the fridge. As soon as his four year old was set with proper breakfast food, he could  _ finally _ get to his much-needed coffee. The dark brew was strong and bitter, and the first sip was a shock to his system. Although he subsequently cut it with a little condensed milk, it still retained the bitterness that he needed to jumpstart his morning. 

It wasn’t the complete silence that he hoped for, but it was at least  _ much _ quieter than it could have been. Edith seemed occupied with her food, and with the exception of plastic-on-plastic, and the occasional scrape of her bowl against the wooden table, she was quiet. It absolutely would not last, but he appreciated it while he could.

Because it was always what came after breakfast that was the hectic part of every morning. It helped that Edith knew  _ how _ to get dressed and brush her teeth, but she had no concept of what matched and it generally took more than a few prompts to get her to brush her teeth. Juggling that while he got ready for work generally resulted in the sort of absent-mindedness that only served to inconvenience him later: like the day he forgot his tie on a day where he  _ really _ needed to be wearing the full ensemble, or the time he got all the way to work and realized he left his files and work laptop at home and lost an hour of his work day in retrieving those items and returning to his office.

He’d washed up and dressed, periodically checking in on her. The first time she was digging into her toybox, so Kyle reminded her to find clothes. The second time he saw that she’d put on an old Halloween costume and galoshes. This prompted him to pick out a weather-appropriate outfit for her and directly help her get ready.

“I brushed my teeth,” Edith informed him as combed her hair. It was the same honey-brown as her mother’s, but she’d had the misfortune of inheriting his unruly curls. 

Kyle hummed as he carefully tied her hair in a ponytail. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he turned his daughter around to look at her properly. “Did you? Let’s see.” He pulled back his lips to demonstrate what he wanted her to do. It was not a surprise at all to see bits of fruit and cereal against her teeth. “You did not brush your teeth. Come on, we don’t want to be late to baba’s.” 

 

* * *

 

“I don’t wanna go to baba’s.”

Kyle had scarcely pulled out of driveway when the first signs of an impending tantrum began. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to soothe his nerves when the screaming inevitably started. It had to be some sort of payback, some kind of karmic retribution from how he was a kid, to have a daughter whose screams rose to octaves that made his ears ring. 

Hopefully it didn’t get that far; the last thing he wanted was for both of their days to get off on the wrong foot before they properly began. Glancing at her through the rearview mirror, he saw her tugging at the chest straps of her carseat in frustration and dramatically throwing her head back against the headrest. “You must stay in your car seat. Why don’t you want to go to baba’s? You like going to baba’s.”

He knew without looking that the waterworks were coming just by the waver in her voice. “It’s too  _ far! _ ” The commute this early in the morning was about ten minutes generally speaking, but he didn’t expect her to understand that right now, especially when she had already made up her mind. There was little point in arguing, not when he needed his focus entirely on the morning traffic; her safety was far more important over whether she was happy with how she was spending her day. “Tatty, I wanna go  _ hooooome. _ ”

“We will go home later. I have to go to work.” The response was a distracted one as he merged lanes. 

Her response was as if he was declaring it was the end of the world. The wails were loud, completely overshadowing the muted discussions on NPR. “I want mommy!” It was her default for when things didn’t go how she wanted, and ultimately Kyle did not fault her at all for wanting her mother. Not one bit. 

But it didn’t stop that clenching feeling in his chest, nor the acidy bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Edith was only four; she didn’t understand how things changed or why, just that they had. “We’ll call her today. I promise.”

“Really promise?” As if he had ever intentionally broken a promise he made to her.

“Really promise.”

The rest of the car ride was relatively uneventful, save for the dramatic sniffling, until he pulled parked in front of the townhouse his mother lived in with his brother. He removed the keys from ignition and regrettably left the comfort of his heated car to open one of the back passenger doors. Kneeling onto the seat, he unbuckled Edith’s car seat, and despite protests, put her winter hat and gloves on, which she’d taken off at some point during the ride. 

Carrying her on his hip with her day bag in tow, he avoided the icy spots on the sidewalk to the front door. Before he could knock, it swung open. Sheila, who had long-since gone grey, still kept her hair styled up the same way as she always did. She clucked her tongue, immediately reaching for her grandchild. 

“Just look at that shayna punim!” She doted, kissing Edith’s cheek as she embraced her. When she finally assessed her son, she shook her head. “Bubbehleh, you look absolutely  _ fermisht _ .”

Kyle’s eyebrows raised briefly, lips pursed as he set down the bag, a very clear  _ no shit. _ “We’ve had a rough morning.”

Sheila frowned. “You know, Kyle, you really shouldn’t be doing this alone. Are you sure you and Heidi can’t just — ”

“ _ Ma. _ ” Kyle was quick to cut her off. They had this conversation more times than he could count. The last thing he wanted was another lecture about how he shouldn’t have divorced Heidi, how they needed to still be living under the same roof because it was damaging for their daughter. He didn’t have time for that. He didn’t have time to tell her  _ again _ , that they had both decided that they didn’t want stay in a marriage for the sake of their kid when they’d fallen out of love. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll be back at 5:30.”

 

* * *

 

“We have a gross profit margin of 60%, which is a 2.5% increase from the last fiscal year. However, if we raise the wholesale cost of our products, we can — ”

The presentation was a dry one, but that was the norm. As Kyle listened to his coworker at the other end of the conference table, he jotted down the facts and figures. In theory, aforementioned coworker would later email him this presentation, but that never arrived as expediently as he needed it. He was completely focused until he felt buzzing in his pocket. 

Pulling the thin device out, he saw the call came from a local number, but not one programmed in his phone. He slid his thumb to the reject field, locked his screen, and returned it to his pocket. Two short buzzes followed, and without checking again he knew that there was a voicemail waiting on him. 

His phone buzzed several more times, but he pointedly ignored it until the meeting concluding. The last thing he needed was Stotch trying to give him shit for not paying close enough attention. Or pointing out that phone use at all during these meetings were a violation of the expected code of conduct.

In the privacy of his own office, he returned his attention to his phone. In addition to the mystery voicemail, there were a few emails, a push notif from Duolingo, and several texts. The latter was what he dove into first, opening his messages app once he unlocked his phone. 

He started with a string of texts from Ike.

|  _ hey assfuck _   
|  _ your kid is as annoying as you are _   
  
This was followed by a photo obviously taken by his webcam in his home office. He scowled, brows furrowed at the camera while Edith half draped herself over the arm of his computer chair. Naturally, Kyle immediately saved the photo and typed out a simple response:  _ she loves you. _

|  _ she’s ok or whatever  
_ |  _ but stop telling her to call me dwight ffs _

The other text was from Heidi. 

|  _ How is she? _

No further context was needed. They no longer talked about things that didn’t directly relate to their daughter. It was still weird. Sometimes it was hard to process that the person who knew  _ everything _ about him, about his day-to-day life no longer did. He didn’t necessarily miss their relationship; it was for the best that things ended when and how they did. Better things be like this than with bitterness between them.

It was just an adjustment.

|  _ She misses you. Do you have time for a call tonight? _

|  _ I have a half hour break between evening classes.  _

|  _ Okay. Let’s aim for then. _

Kyle watched the the animated three dots at the bottom of the screen, waiting for to finish typing whatever it was she had to say. He found himself unable to concentrate on anything else, so he sank back into his office chair, staring up that the ceiling. 

|  _ The plan we discussed last week changed. Rather than picking her up on Fri. morning, I would like to pick her up Thurs. Afternoon and take her to Greeley to see my parents for the weekend. _

|  _ That’s fine. I’ll have an overnight bag packed for her. _

The final response from Heidi was a thumbs up emoji. Declaring the conversation ended, he finally listened moved on to checking that voicemail. “ _ Mr. Broflovski, this is Allie Nelson with the Whittier Center for Early Childhood Excellence. We spoke some months ago about admitting your daughter… Edith, into our pre-kindergarten program. As of today we have a slot available. If you are still interested, please give us a call back at 720-XXX-XXXX at your earliest convenience. Thank you. _ ”

Already there was a silver-lining for the day: they were off the waitlist. Thank fuck.

 

* * *

 

The Whittier Center for Early Childhood Excellence was supposedly one of the best preschools in Boulder County. Its teachers were all trained in prestigious and accredited early learning programming, the school itself earned awards for its innovation and active learning. Kyle tried to get Edith admitted a year prior, before the divorce proceedings started, when Heidi decided she wanted to go back to school for her doctorate. 

His mother had jumped at the opportunity to watch Edith when he was told that they would be on the waitlist indefinitely. There were other options, sure, but with things going as they did… well, it was easier in the long run to take Sheila up on her offer. But this? This was much more convenient; the school was a mere three blocks away from the house, and with his work also in that general area, it would save so much time not having to go to Dakota Ridge twice a day. 

Of course, the most important things were those that would directly benefit his daughter: the high-quality education that he wanted for her, and the opportunity to socialize with children her own age. It wasn’t to say that she wasn’t already getting worthwhile experiences; his mother worked with her on learning basics and took her to the kids’ programming offered at the library and museums in the area. She knew numbers and could write her name (albeit sometimes illegibly). But that wasn’t enough; the structure that a classroom provided was not one that he could provide at his home or his mother’s. 

Plus, given that he had to provide the records during the admittance process, he knew every single one of her peers were required to be vaccinated. 

Needless to say, Kyle was thrilled for her to start her first day. 

They just needed to get out of the house first. 

“That’s what you want to wear today?” Edith’s attempt in picking out her clothes went decently: there was nothing inherently wrong with what she picked out: a long-sleeved baseball-tee reading ‘straight outta timeout’ in block letters.  _ He _ liked that shirt, but for a first day at a new place? Maybe not. 

It came as no surprise that all of her clothes had been pulled out of the drawers. Most of them were on a pile right beneath the dresser, but there were others scattered about her room. Glancing at his watch, he assessed that there was enough time to get this cleaned up before they needed to leave. 

Kneeling down, he started refolding her leggings, shorts, shirts, and everything else in the mix. Each had a specific spot in the dresser, and for the sake of actually leaving on time, he opted to do it by himself. He paused only to hold up different shirts for her. “How about your Peppa shirt instead?” It was followed by a ‘no,’ as he held up different options. To her it was an obvious game; even as she told him no to the rainbow shirt, the horse shirt, the purple shirt, and so on, she giggled. 

All of the other clothes had been returned to the dresser when he held up the last shirt: a light blue with a pink cartoonish octopus that had ‘get a grip’ framing its head. “Last one. What about this shirt?”

She considered it for a moment with a long hum, resting one of her hands against her chin in a manner that made her look so much like her mother. “Hm……..okay!” 

“Let’s change your shirt, and then we will leave.”

Once at the foyer, he reassured himself that he had everything he needed: his work computer, his bag, Edith had her backpack on, her lunch box and a change of clothes packed inside. They were good to go. Once the alarm was set and front door locked, he led her to the car and fastened her into her carseat.

As he pulled out of the driveway, she asked something that he couldn’t understand for the life of him. “What?” She repeated the question, this time a little more clearly. “We’re not seeing baba today. You’re going to school today, remember?” 

A disgruntled sound followed as he parked the car in the preschool’s parking lot. “No, I wanna go to baba’s. It’s too close. I don’t like it. It’s  _ icky.” _

Kyle waited until he was helping her out of her car seat to respond. “It’s not icky. It’s new, but you’re going to have fun and make friends.”  He watched her bottom lip tremble, and as he sighed, he scooped her up in his arms and headed toward the entrance. Once inside, he set her down so he could check her in. 

“Good morning.” The woman at the front desk had a pleasant voice. “What’s your child’s name?”

Kyle felt his daughter clutching the leg of his pants. “Edith Turner-Broflovski. It’s her first day.”

The woman’s face lit up in recognition. “Oh, yes. I just have a few papers for you to sign, Mr. Broflovski.” She slide a folder onto the counter with a pen. “Please review the medical and emergency contact information. The last page is a release for you to either accept or decline, for your daughter to be photographed for internal and external promotional purposes.” 

“Okay,” he responded, opening the folder to flip through the paperwork, confirming no known allergies, that his ex-wife, his mother, and brother were all able to check her out. Finally, he read over the disclosure statement for the photo release. Signing off on that, he passed the paperwork back over. “What’s next?”

“Sign her in on the clipboard to your right so we have a proper record — ” She paused, observing Kyle fill in the fields. “Excellent. Okay, Edith’s teacher is Miss McCormick. I’ll buzz you in, and her classroom will be the second room on the left.”

The lock on the door clicked, and taking Edith’s hand in his own, he opened it. The first room was a brightly-lit atrium with colorful rugs, couches, and an extensive booknook. The opposing side had double doors leading to an outside area with an assortment of play equipment. “Doesn’t this place look fun?”

Edith pressed more firmly against his leg to the point where she very nearly became a trip hazard. “Wanna go home, Tatty.” 

They were just outside the classroom when he kneeled down to be at her level. Hands on her shoulders, he gave them a gentle squeeze. “I need you to put your brave face on, okay? I know this is new and different, but I think you’re going to have a lot of fun today. You’re going to learn things and you’ll make friends. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Edith’s response was a resounding shrug, and after Kyle pressed a kiss to her forehead, she threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. “Do I gotta?”

“You must.” 

The teacher, a woman in her early twenties that Kyle assumed must have been Miss McCormick, appeared in the doorway between the hall and her classroom at that point. “You must be Edith,” she said, her attention directed to the small child that Kyle was detangling himself from. She seemed nice enough as she assured Edith that she would have fun today, that she would introduce her to the other kids. 

This seemed to be the extra encouragement that Edith needed, and after a final hug, she ventured into the classroom. Once she was inside, Miss McCormick extended her hand to Kyle. “Karen McCormick. Your daughter is in good hands.”

“Kyle Broflovski,” he replied, shaking her hand. “I don’t doubt it at all.” He lingered long enough to watch Edith speak to another kid before heading off to work.

The work day passed quickly, with Kyle caught up in meetings and reports and such tedious things. There were no calls from the preschool, so he assumed the day went reasonably well. Surely if the worst case scenario occurred and she spent the day crying, he would have gotten a call. 

Sure enough, when he arrived to pick her up, there her mood had significantly improved in comparison to how he left her. As soon as she saw him, she dropped everything and ran over. Kyle acted on instinct, sweeping her off her feet and tucking her against his side. “Did you have a good day?”

Edith nodded, clutching onto his blazer. “I want my friend to come play at home.”

“Not today, we have things to do.” Really, the list of things he needed to do was never-ending. “What’s your friend’s name?”

“I don’t know!” Her voice squeaked, and the small child twisted around in his arms until Kyle set her down again. She ran over to the book nook where she had previously been sitting on a beanbag. “He’s not here.” 

“Oh, that must be because he went home. We need to do that, too. Where’s your stuff?” He exchanged a smile with the staff member supervising the remaining children, and when she pointed toward the classroom. Nodding in acknowledgement, he took Edith’s hand in his and headed back to the classroom. 

Karen was in there, cleaning and sanitizing the tables and other spaces. When she saw them enter, she set her cleaning equipment aside and walked over. Standing akimbo, she watched Edith retrieve her backpack from the cubbies — the only one left — before smiling brightly at Kyle. “She had a rough start this morning, but overall I think she had a great day. She made some friends and was eager to learn, weren’t you, Edie?”

She held her hand out for Edith to high-five, which she did when she returned with her backpack. Kyle rested his hand on the crown of her head, smoothing it over her curls. “That’s a relief, honestly. This was her day spending time away from family.” The conversation continued a little longer before Kyle and Edith finally left the preschool for the evening. 

 

* * *

 

Over the following months, Kyle heard about Edith’s friend nearly every day. She and Cayden did this, Cayden said that, and so on. She frequently asked to go to the park with him, particularly now that winter came to an end, or to have him come over to play. It wasn’t that Kyle was  _ against _ the idea. There was a certain sense of dread that came to the prospect of supervising two small children when he often used the weekends to clean the house as much as he could, but that wasn’t the reason it never happened.

He’d simply never had the opportunity to meet this kid or one of his parents. Kyle was one of the first parents to drop their kids off in the morning, and almost always one of the last for pick up due to his schedule, and little could be done about that. Whoever Cayden was, he had a parent whose schedule differed just enough that they were ships passing in the night. 

And he kept his kid occupied; Kyle wasn’t desperate enough to ask Karen or one of the other teachers for the contact information of another parent he didn’t know. That was just way too weird.

Fortunately, the spring ‘parents day’ seemed to be a good opportunity to change that. It was the sort of thing he hated when he was a kid: parents sitting in class,  _ participating _ of all things. It never occurred past elementary school, but even at that point Kyle had been old enough to be mortified by his mother sitting in his class.

Edith wasn’t at that point yet, fortunately. Rather, she was ecstatic to have him there, and Kyle was honestly relieved to have a day out of the office, even if spending the day around a bunch of four year olds wasn’t his preferred style. His kid? Absolutely. But a good fifteen others? Miss him with that.

As soon as they arrived, Edith remembered to put her belongings in her cubby, though in her attempt to do that as quickly as possible, half of her things were on the floor in front of it instead. Which naturally needed to be corrected, but after that, she led Kyle to her spot at one of the large round tables in the classroom. 

It was a little difficult to navigate, with the extra chairs and adult bodies in the room, but Kyle made it work. Edith slapped her hands on the table once she got there, loudly proclaiming  _ this is my spot. _ But more important than that was her realization that her best friend was also there. 

She tugged on Kyle’s shirt, urging him to lean down. When he obliged, she whispered in his ear. “I’m gonna get Cayden. Sssh.”

Before he could say anything, she crawled under the table and snuck across to the other side. He couldn’t see her, but he knew she’d gotten there when a strawberry blond boy across from him abruptly shrieked and peered under the table. “Why’d you do that!”

Kyle was mortified. The kid’s parent, a dark-haired man in his late thirties, if Kyle had to guess, looked up from his phone. He wore a navy blue polo, wore no ring. He scooted, and in the empty space created from that Edith emerged. The quirked brow directed at him just made Kyle want to die of embarrassment even more.

“Edith, come back over here.”

Of course this was one of the times where she didn’t obey and instead draped her arms on the other child. “Tatty, this is my  _ very _ best friend.”

This, of course, Kyle had inferred from the whisper mere moments before, but now that Edith had gone and said something, that meant he  _ had _ to acknowledge the other parent. “Oh. So your kid must be the one that mine’s been begging for a playdate with for months now.”

There was a twitch of a smile, perhaps, from the other parent. Kyle didn’t have a good read on him yet, but that was only fair at this point. “Same, actually.”

His previous mortification passed with the sheer relief that Edith’s friend  _ existed _ , but also wanted to spend time with her. He didn’t doubt it, not really, but he could at least propose something be done about it now. Reaching into pocket, he retrieved his wallet where he had one of his business cards. Scrawling his personal cell on the back of it, he slid it across the table. “I’m busy during the week, but if you ever want to set up a playdate one weekend, shoot me a text.”

The man reached forward enough to pull the card the rest of the way across the table and studied it. “I certainly will. Kyle.”

 

* * *

 

The man’s name was Craig. The text that Kyle received a few days later said as much. It said little else and got straight to the point. His name was Craig, he was Cayden’s father. He was inquiring about the playdate they had discussed earlier in the week. Kyle was relieved for the bluntness; few things were worse than smalltalk, particularly with strangers via text, which was a few steps below smalltalk at the grocery store checkout line. 

Kyle checked his schedule before responding, and they agreed to meet at an equidistant park for ultimate convenience. What they did not factor in was the capricious spring weather; for weeks the weather had been warmer and dry, but when he woke up on Saturday, a system that was forecast to merely pass through overnight dropped a few inches of snow. 

In the context of, well,  _ Colorado _ , it really wasn’t a big deal at all. Except Kyle was disinclined to take his four-year-old to a park in this weather. He could bundle her up, but he really didn’t want to risk her getting ill. Apparently Craig felt the same way, as he texted Kyle just as Kyle was unlocking his phone to do the same.

|  _ Do you want to reschedule? _

He was torn, mulling it over for a moment, debating between wellness and knowing just  _ how _ excited Edith was to see her friend. She’d gone as far as to climb onto his bed to wake him, just to confirm that she was going to play with Cayden that day.

Sighing heavily, he knew what the best course of action was, even though he was reluctant to offer this.

|  _ We could. Or you two can come to my house. Edith has plenty of toys they can keep themselves entertained with. _

The major regret with offering this was merely the state of his house: it was just not as clean as he wanted it to be, and hadn’t been since Heidi moved out. Essential things were easy enough to maintain throughout the week, such as the kitchen and bathrooms. Or tossing things into the washer as needed. 

The weekends were normally when he was able to take the time to be more thorough, and while he knew what he did, he could just never  _ tell. _ He could straighten, dust, and vacuum the living room, and as soon as he turned around, there were toys everywhere all over again. Edith’s room was the same way, and really, so was any other room that she spent any sort of time in. 

Surely another parent would understand his plight, but…

His phone buzzed.

|  _ Alright. Send your address and we’ll be over later. _

At least when Kyle relayed this information to his daughter, she was beyond elated. Small mercies were that their agreed upon time was three hours later, which gave him time to straighten up the house a little more. He saw little reason for their future guests to go upstairs at all when there was a bathroom and plenty of toys downstairs, so that wasn’t his focus at all.

The main floor was what was manageable. He straightened and dusted, cleaned every surface so they were smudge-free. Toys gathered and returned to their respective places. Swept, swiffered, and vacuumed. When he finished, he felt better about it having been done, even though Hurricane Edith swept in behind him, leaving chaos in her wake every step of the way.

It wasn’t worth the effort to go back behind her to pick up again, not right now, so when he finished cleaning, he instead opted to slice an apple for Edith’s snack. Hands washed and settled on her booster seat, he sat beside her, allowing his thoughts to drift as he watched snow fall from the tree branches outside the kitchen window. 

“Cayden’s gonna come play?” 

“Chew with your mouth closed.” He stole an apple slice from her plate. “He’s supposed to.” 

“When?”

Kyle glanced over to the nearby microwave. “Do you see the numbers on the microwave? What do the first two numbers say?” Instead of answering verbally, Edith held all ten fingers up while holding an apple slice between her teeth. “Correct. When it says eleven, he’ll be here.”

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, exactly at 11, there was a knock on the front door. Edith dropped everything to run to the foyer and peer through the one of the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the front door. “Tatty! They’re here!” 

The hollering was loud enough that he’d heard her from the back of the house, where he’d been switching laundry over to the dryer. His timing was impeccable; he arrived to the foyer just in time to see Edith trying to unlock the front door. It didn’t matter that she knew the kid; the other parent was still a stranger and the last thing he wanted was for her to think that was okay to do and open the door for some rando in the future.

His hands rested under the crooks over her arms as he hoisted her up and away. “Hey. What’s the rule about the front door?”

“Don’t…”

Kyle set her down and out of the way. “Yes. Always let me open the door, okay?” That said, he unlocked the door and welcomed their guests inside. Edith wasted no time in giving her friend a hug and insisting she show him all of her toys  _ right then. _ “Stay downstairs,” he reminded her; though there was a gate preventing them from taking the stairs up, he felt it was necessary to mention before she got it in her head to try to climb over it again.

Craig chuckled as he observed the two four year olds scamper off, and after he took off his coat to hang on the hook nearby the front door, he followed Kyle into the living room, looking about. “Your place is nice.”  _ He _ was nice. Looked it, rather. Which wasn’t something Kyle should have noticed,  _ but _ ...

The compliment came as a surprise, in any case.. Not because his house  _ wasn’t _ nice; he was well aware of its current value as his property taxes didn’t allow him the luxury otherwise. But when he looked around, all he saw were the imperfections. The long list of things he still needed to do to maintain his household. “Oh. Thanks. It’s been a mess since my ex-wife moved out, but I appreciate that. Want a coffee or anything?”

The response was Craig holding up a thermos that Kyle assumed contained the caffeine required to constantly wrangle his child. In the following moments, the two wound up settling on the sectional with the four-year-olds in view as they played with building blocks. Both of them spoke to each other as they stacked the blocks. It was nonsensical at best, but clear imitations of how they perceived the adults in their lives talking to one another. 

“Thank you for bringing him over,” Kyle told Craig. As much as he hated smalltalk, that was essentially what they had done since his arrival: the yearning for real spring to arrive, a discussion of the preschool their children attended. Nothing personal, nothing directly about themselves. That was for the best; Kyle wasn’t the type to just ramble to strangers, and the only reason this guy was over was so their kids could play. “This was the only thing she’s talked about since she woke up this morning.”

“Of course. Cayden was also — ” 

Whatever Craig was going to say could have been easily inferred, but the statement itself was cut off by the sound of abrupt wailing. Because Kyle’s focus had been on the other adult in the room, he only saw the building block tower tumble in his periphery. He also knew that cry quite well; it was the one that occurred when Edith wasn’t getting her way about something. Likely no one was hurt, which was quickly confirmed when she ran over to Kyle, patting his knees.

“Tatty — ” She sniffed loudly. “Cayden knocked down my tower.” And for that reason alone, the world was ending. 

“Dude, c’mon. It’s just a — ” 

Kyle’s efforts to dismiss this were interrupted by Cayden joining in the crying, nearly yelling through his tears as he moved closer to the couch as well. “Edie’s  _ lying _ ! I didn’t touch the tower!”

Craig cleared his throat and took hold of one of Cayden’s hand, assuring his son that he had his attention. “Do you think the tower can be rebuilt?”

The small boy nodded, wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “I think so.” That seemed to resolve it. A gentle push to both of the kids to try again, and they were both back to playing as if nothing so clearly devastating occurred. 

The following hours passed without incident until it was time for Craig and Cayden to leave. Cleanup was more expedient than Kyle expected; he’d gotten so used to doing everything himself that he was surprised and found it refreshing that Craig insisted on helping too. The kids weepily hugged it out after Craig got Cayden’s coat and hat on him, both reluctant to part even though Kyle was  _ desperate _ for Edith to take a nap, and he was sure Craig felt similarly. 

Just as he was about to head out, on impulse, Kyle grabbed his elbow to catch his opinion one final time. “Hey, um. Listen. If you ever want to text or something, even about things unrelated to setting up playdates, you can. It’s been nice talking to another adult outside of work.”

Craig’s expression was another one of those that Kyle couldn’t read, but he quickly let go of Craig’s arm as he saw the other man looking at his hand before his eyes. “Oh. Yeah. I’ll. Text you.” His words trailed off, and as he ushered his son out, Kyle watched them leave and felt like an utter dumbass.

 

* * *

 

Over the following weeks, any communication they had involved planning more playdates. That was probably for the best; Kyle had a feeling that he’d possibly come on too strong in his desire to have someone to talk to who wasn’t an annoying coworker or his mother or brother. And he didn't want to scare Craig off. He didn’t want to compromise anything that would interfere with his daughter getting to socialize with another kid she adored outside of school. 

It just sucked. Really, it had nothing to do with Craig and everything to do with his own loneliness;  the friends he had while with Heidi proved to be more hers than his. Which was fine, he supposed, because it wasn’t like he wanted  _ her _ to feel the way he was feeling, either. It didn’t help that there were only a handful of days throughout each month that he wasn’t responsible for supervising his kid, and while he knew his mother would have gladly watched her more frequently, he didn’t want to overburden her, either. 

There were his friends from high school and college that he still kept up with, but some now lived in different parts of the state or country. Others were childfree and that was an entire other can of worms that made hanging out in person difficult. 

But at least when he met up with Craig, whether it was at the park or elsewhere, for just a couple hours he could talk to another adult who understood what he was going through. The second or third time they’d let up for their kids to play, Craig mentioned in passing that he was also a single parent, that in addition to Cayden he had a fifteen year old. If anyone understood how exhausted Kyle was on any given day, it was Craig.

The solidarity just meant a lot to him. 

He had intended to express as much one afternoon. Sitting on a park bench, their conversations were periodically interrupted by needing to correct their kids’ playground behavior. Like the other conversations that were held in public spaces like this, they spoke without looking at each other, instead their focuses entirely on ensuring their kids remained in view.

But when Kyle glanced over at him, his words got caught in his throat. It wasn’t the first time he’d glanced at Craig, but it was the first time he felt that he was truly seeing him. Without a cloud in the sky, the sunrays seemingly hit him in the best ways. Kyle saw how his slightly windblown black hair had the faintest of blue undertones. The chiseled edge his jaw and the traces of a five o’clock shadow. How soft and bright his blue eyes looked as he watched Cayden reach for Edith’s hand to help her onto the pirate ship they played upon. 

He must have noticed Kyle staring though, because after a moment he looked at him too. His smile was one that made his heart clench. “What?”

Kyle felt his cheeks burn, and he quickly looked away. “Nothing.”

Silence fell between them, and those moments were spent with Kyle attempting to keep the flip-flopping of his stomach at bay. He recognized this feeling for what it was, and it took everything to resist the urge to fetch his kid and hide in his house for the rest of his life. His needed distraction came in the form of his phone buzzing in his jeans pocket. Retrieving it, he audibly groaned at the text from his mother.

This time, when Craig questioned him, he gave an answer. “Teaching my mother to text was the worst decision I’ve ever made.” It wasn’t the first time he came to that conclusion; Ike had expressed a similar sentiment before, but the statement remained true.

That earned a chuckle, and  _ oh fuck _ was that a beautiful sound. “Why’s that?”

It was the permission to vent that he didn’t ask for, but he sure as hell was going to take him up on it. “It was necessary for emergency purposes, like if there was an emergency, but it’s evolved to any time I don’t answer the phone, she feels the need to send a massive text.”

“That seems fairly normal.”

“Oh no, I’m not finished! If it was just about normal things it would be normal. Every single one of these texts is about her ‘concern’ over my living situation. Like sorry I didn’t stay in an unhappy marriage until my kid graduated college like you did, ma.” As frustrating as it was, there was something about her nagging that was comedic enough that he couldn’t help but laugh. Beside him, Craig covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle his own reaction. 

“I think moms are just like that, no matter how old you get.” 

Kyle smoothed a hand back through his curls, leaning back against the park bench. “Probably. But she also just doesn’t get it. She was a stay-at-home mother. She never had to run a household while having a career. She somehow maintains that I shouldn’t have gotten a divorce, and that I definitely shouldn’t be single now. I don’t know what she expects, man.” 

“The impossible, clearly.” Although it was a rhetorical, it was an answer that Kyle agreed with. It really wasn’t a surprise that Craig understood. “At least when you’re ready, and you have the time, you theoretically have a decent pool to date from. There has to be a ton of women who’d be down to date a single dad, even if they don’t have kids.” Craig paused, hesitating, and from the corner of his eye, Kyle saw the man’s posture stiffen. “For me, it’s not so easy. There’s already only so many gay men in the metro area and — well, those who are understanding of parental obligations or those who also have kids  _ and _ are single? It’s even lower.” 

There was a moment of silence between them before Kyle made a strangled sound. “I mean. I never said I was straight, but I get what you’re saying.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“I was with a guy for three years before Heidi, man. And before you say anything about me having not told you before  _ because I can tell you’re about to _ , you didn’t say anything either.”

The response came in the form of a rather ugly snort. “You got me there.”

The topic changed not long after, but it left feeling like he and Craig understood each other much more than he initially realized. It was just nice. He wasn’t considering anything beyond that. They were here for the kids, after all. The fact that Kyle felt they had the potential to become good friends was just an added bonus. 

 

* * *

 

Kyle supported his ex’s efforts in earning her doctorate. He truly did. But the downside to Heidi being back in the realm of academia was that the closer it ventured to summer, the busier she was. The more unable she was to take their kid for the weekend, which he  _ understood _ but it also meant that he felt himself burning out. Demands at work didn’t lessen, and that only compounded things. 

|  _ Just take time off, dude. _

It was a reasonable suggestion from Craig, when he’d expressed his frustration, but it wasn’t that easy. He had plenty of PTO collecting for him to use when he needed to, but he didn’t feel like he was  _ justified _ in it. The knowledge that there wasn’t anyone to pick up the slack for him didn’t help. If he took a week off, he would inevitably return to at least two weeks worth of work to catch up on. 

It just wasn’t worth it. There were other options, sure, but the most convenient option flew right out the window when his mother decided to go to Florida for six weeks, where her sister retired to some years ago. And no disrespect to his brother, but he trusted Ike to supervise his daughter as much as he trusted Edith to take care of herself. That left his ex in-laws in Greeley, but he wasn’t at the point where he was willing to commute a total of four hours during a span of a weekend.

To an extent, he was doing this to himself and he knew that, but it was hard for him to break the system he’d set up for himself.

Instead, he just complained. That was cathartic in and of itself. Especially when he found his hallway covered in strawberry yogurt. He dragged his hands down his face and took measured breaths, and before he went to the kitchen for cleaning supplies, he took a photo.

|  _ I took a shower. Twenty minutes, tops. This is what I came back to. _

He attached the photo, sent the text off, and went to work cleaning up to the walls. In the meantime, he heard his phone chime, but didn’t retrieve it until he finished. Craig didn’t always text back immediately, but he had in this case. When Kyle felt his heart  _ stupidly _ pitter-patter over it, he internally chastised himself over it. 

|  _ Fuck that. Did it stain? _

|  _ Fortunately not.  _

Craig left him on read and didn’t respond further, so Kyle considered that the end of their short conversation. He locked his phone got started on dinner. At this rate, the sooner he got Edith fed, bathed, and in bed, the better. If could take the rest of the evening for himself and unwind, he’d be better off in the morning. 

It wasn’t for another couple hours that Craig responded. Knowing he had his hands full as well, he never begrudged him for being a slow texter.

|  _ Sorry about that. Caught my kid smoking. _

|  _ Cayden??? _

|  _ No. Cassidee, my 15 y/o. She’s currently threatening to go live with my ex because she’s in trouble with me.  _

And Kyle complained about a little yogurt on the walls. Settled on his bed, he glanced toward his daughter’s bedroom, which was adjacent to his and only partially visible from where he was. An unhelpful dose of anxiety filled him as he sank back against his pillows. Was he going to have to deal with that one day? How would he even handle it? 

|  _ Holy shit. I’m so sorry. _

The response that followed felt dismissive, but Kyle couldn’t say with certainty. He really didn’t know much about the elusive teenager, or Craig’s ex.

|  _ It’s whatever. She’d hate it over there.  _

|  _ Yeah? _

|  _ He’s fairly anti-tech. No internet, she wouldn’t be able to have her phone over there.  
_ |  _ It goes beyond distrusting tech because of surveillance. His current issue with wifi signals and 4G waves causing cancer. 5G is just going to wipe out all of humanity or something like that.  _

For a moment, Kyle could only stare at his phone in complete bafflement. He would have thought that Craig was having him on, but his sense of humor wasn’t this brand at all. 

|  _ What??? Seriously??? _

|  _ Long story.  
_ |  _ Park this Saturday? _

Kyle wanted to scream. In that moment, he knew that Craig wasn’t going to give him any more information, which sucked because it was killing him not knowing more about that. Rather than pushing the envelope, he readily agreed to meet up that weekend. 

Fortunately, the weekend came quickly, and Kyle wasn’t sure who was excited for it more: his daughter, or himself. The time he spent with Craig was something he looked forward to and thoroughly enjoyed it more than he was willing to let on to the other man. But it was true, and fuck if he didn’t feel a little ridiculous feeling his mood immediately improve when he saw the other man sitting on their usual bench.

Edith spotted Cayden on one of the slides and took off immediately, leaving Kyle to approach the bench by himself. When he settled beside Craig, it wasn’t immediately obvious that it was closer than normal until he shifted and their elbows brushed against each other. He excused himself, shifting again so Craig had his space. 

They exchanged hellos, and the smile Craig gave him made his heart race. “How did it go with your older one?”

Craig shrugged. “She’s grounded, and I suspect sulking in her room rather than doing the chores I told her to do.” 

Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t envy you. I’m not ready for Edith to be a teenager. Or a preteen, for that matter.” As he set his hand back down to rest on the seat of the bench, his fingertips laid against Craig’s. His heart thrummed, and he knew he should have moved them, but the unexpected contact made him internally panic and freeze. 

“She’s a good kid,” came Craig’s response. His fingers twitched against Kyle’s and inched closer, entwining them. Kyle thought his heart was going to burst. “She’s going through a lot, and I get it, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating at times.”

“Yeah.” Kyle felt rather dumb for not having anything better to say, but as he wasn’t at that stage in in child rearing, he really didn’t have much input. Instead, all without looking at Craig, he twisted his hand in Craig’s so he could hold it properly and squeezed. 

A comfortable silence fell between them as they held hands. There wasn’t a need to comment about it, or what it meant. For now, it was easiest to just take it for what it was: something comforting, something to relish and crave when he felt as touch starved as he had for over a year. 

How much time passed was hard to say. But it came abruptly to an end when the sound of an approaching ice cream truck playing “All Around the Mulberry Bush” caught the attention of the playing four-year-olds. As soon as Kyle saw their approach, he jerked his hand away in fear that one of them would somehow notice and think to comment on it.

(Which they didn’t.)

“We want ice cream!” Edith declared this before she was anywhere near the bench, and as soon as she was within reach, she grasped one of Kyle’s hand, bouncing up and down as she shook it. “Please?  _ Pleeeease? _ ”

Kyle exchanged a glance with Craig, then toward the ice cream truck. “Alright, c’mon.”

 

* * *

 

|  _ Asshole  
_ |  _ Did you really think you could get away with not telling me today’s your birthday? _

For a moment, Kyle stared at the texts that he received. It made him feel a mix of emotions that were difficult to decipher. Part of him had hope that he would have been able to pass the day without anyone who mattered to him making a deal out of it. The big four-oh. He wished he could have simply swept it under the rug rather than face the reminder that he was getting older.

|  _ I knew nothing good would come from adding you on Facebook. _

Kyle watched the animated three dots instead of focusing on his work. It was much more entertaining than the reports he was working on, and the day was already dragging as it was. Indulging in this conversation with Craig wasn’t going to hurt anything.

|  _ Are you doing anything for it? Let me take you to Frasca. _

Boulder had a lot of restaurants, and Kyle only knew a handful of them. It wasn’t like he went out that often anymore, and when he did, it tended to be a certain type of restaurant. One where that had a designated kids’ menu. Not high-end, fixed-menu, multiple-course restaurants that averaged at least $95 a plate. 

|  _ Uh?  
_ |  _ Dude, I have my kid, including this weekend. I’m down to get dinner but if you really want Italian, a pizzeria would be a better choice. _

There was no immediate response, or even a sign that Craig had done anything more than read his response. That was fine; it was in the middle of the work day, so he didn’t think much of it at all. He went back to working, only looking at his phone when it buzzed again about fifteen minutes later.

|  _ Okay.  
_ |  _ Locale, then? I’ll pick both of you up at six. _

Kyle agreed, and from that point, he had something to look forward to for the rest of the day. It wasn’t the celebration of his birth that he cared about, but having a nice dinner sounded...well, nice. Besides, Edith loved pizza and it was a rare treat that she deserved by virtue of being his kid.

There was only a minor time crunch, though, in leaving work on time, picking Edith up from preschool, and getting them both ready in time for Craig to pick them up. The rush was worth it, however; if dinner got pushed back much later than that, it would only mean Edith would be up later than usual and an absolute pain the following day.

A little after six that evening, Craig pulled up in the driveway. As Kyle led Edith out of the house and locked up, he saw a tall, skulky cryptid emerge from the front passenger’s seat to move to the back. Shoulders hunched, her body language perfectly exemplified how much she didn’t want to be there. Clearly, that was Craig’s oldest.

Before they could leave, though, Kyle needed to get the carseat from the back of his car. He didn’t realize that Craig had gotten out of his sedan until he heard Edith. As always she utterly lacked volume control. “Hi, Craig!”

Half leaning into the back his car as he tried to get the seatbelt untangled from the car seat, Kyle looked through the rearview window in time to see Craig pick Edith up and tossed her into the air before tucking her against his side. Her giggles travelled into the car, and Kyle simply had to take a moment to take it all in. 

They were cute. And Craig looked. Nice. 

Car seat freed, he pulled it out and locked his car up. “Hey.” He offered Craig a smile as he carried the carseat over to the other vehicle. Before he got there, though, Craig set Edith down in favor of taking the car seat from Kyle with a simple  _ I’ll get that _ . Which was fine; he was more than willing to let someone else take over a task that was always an absolute pain in the ass. 

Kyle followed him to the car, leaning against the side of the trunk with Edith’s hand in his as Craig fitted the carseat. At that point, Edith took it upon herself to climb into the seat herself and attempt to talk to the teenager girl next to her while Craig fastened her in. 

Craig straightened and closed the car door. And suddenly they were close. Craig was giving him this weird look and when he leaned over, Kyle thought he was going to —

He hugged him. 

It took him by surprise, but Kyle returned the embrace all the same, face flushed as they parted, quickly taking his spot in the front seat. After fastening his seatbelt, ye twisted back in his seat to introduce himself. “You must be Cassidee. I'm Kyle.”

Given the way in which she was looking down at her phone, her dark fringe obstructed part of her face, and while she looked up, proof that she heard him, she didn't remove her headphones. Instead, she give him the bird and resumed typing away on her phone. 

Kyle wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't  _ that _ . He opted not to make a big deal of it, especially since Craig had been too busy navigating traffic to see it. Instead, he focused on Craig's choice in music.  “Belinda Carlisle?  _ Really? _ ” 

Craig snorted. “Heaven is a place on Earth, Kyle.”

He couldn’t help but cup his hand over his mouth as snickered. “You’re such a stereotype.”

“What, being a child from the 80s? Takes one to know one.”

“Yeah, his taste in music sucks.” A third voice joined from the back. Without needing to go through a process of elimination to figure out that it was Cassidee. “It gets so much worse than this.”

“Hey!” Craig shot her a look through the rearview mirror, but there was no heat behind it.

Kyle twisted around in his seat again. He remembered being a teen enough to know that if he commented about her talking, she’d get quiet and sullen again, so instead he decided to egg her on. “How bad does it get?”

She turned her nose up as she listed off names. “Bonnie Tyler. Madonna.  _ Spandau Ballet. _ ” 

He inhaled sharply. “Oh yikes. There’s no hope for him at all.”

“No- _ ope _ ,” she agreed, dragging the word out with a pop.

Kyle leaned back in his seat with a snicker. Cassidee returned her attention to her phone, but that didn’t mean that the conversation was over. Craig glanced over at him, then briefly into the rearview mirror once more. 

“Edith, what kind of music does your tatty listen to?” The small child was more than eager to chime in with  _ my name is chika-chika!  _ Though he didn’t look at Kyle, he could hear the raised brow in his tone. “That’s objectively worse, Kyle.”

Kyle looked behind him again, this time through the small space between the chair and the window. When Edith saw him peering at her, she burst into laughter. Clicking his tongue at her, he looked over at Craig. “For the record, I don’t listen to that around her.”

“Uh-huh.”

The conversation drifted off not long after that, which he didn’t mind since it was only a couple minutes later that Craig pulled into the pizzeria’s parking lot and found a space. The five of them piled out not long after, and as soon as it was available, got settled in a round booth. Cassidee took one edge, with Cayden and Edith beside her, and with Kyle wedged between her and Craig. It was a snug fit, but not an unbearable one.

Rather, it was kind of nice, in a way he was trying not to think too much about, to have his thigh pressed against Craig’s. For some time, the they discussed which pizza toppings everyone would enjoy, which took much longer than the drink orders.

Craig slid out of the booth once they decided on toppings, letting Kyle know he’d return shortly. Of course it was right after that the server looped back around. “Ready to order?” 

The question was directed at the only adult at the table, but Cayden was quick to look up from the coloring sheet he’d gotten when they first sat down. “We want pizza.”

The server laughed. “You’re in luck, then.” She looked back to Kyle. “Your son is adorable.”

Cayden  _ was _ adorable. A sweet kid, really. But not his. Which quickly resulted in Kyle overthinking the situation. The easiest thing to do would be to just say thank you and not make a big deal out of it, which is what he was about to do when Cassidee snapped.

“That’s not his son.”

It was her tone that made it awkward. The server apologized, and after she took the order, she headed off. This left Kyle staring at the teenager on the other side of the table. “Dude, you didn’t have to be rude to her.” 

“But it’s true.  _ You’re _ not our dad.” 

Kyle felt like his synapses were short-circuiting. “I’m well aware of that. I’m not trying to be.” He was just baffled, in disbelief that this was a conversation he was having with a fifteen-year-old during their first meeting. 

“Then how about not hugging my dad.”

He decided right then that he wasn’t going to entertain this conversation, and fortunately he didn’t have to. Craig returned, settling back in his spot. For a moment, his hand rested on Kyle’s knee as he glanced between the other man and his daughter. “What’s going on?”

Kyle watched Cassidee shrug and when she didn’t say anything, he responded. “The server took our order.” 

It didn’t take long for their pizza to arrive, and after profusely reminding the little ones that it was hot, Kyle helped them get a slice since he was closer. They both inevitably wound up wearing some of their meal, but that was anticipated. The meal continued in a comfortable manner with occasional conversation, thought most of the chatter came from Edith and Cayden. 

When the meal was closed to being over, a booming voice caught their attention. “Craig!” A burly brown-haired man rushed over, scooting in beside Cassidee. He ruffled her hair, to which she responded with a disgruntled sound, but the man paid no mind. His settling there caused a commotion; Cayden screeched  _ Uncle Clyde! _ and all but attempted to climb on the table to high-five him. Clyde obliged, then returned his attention to Craig. “Bro, how’s it going? I haven’t seen you since… last week, but it feels like a million years, man. What brings you here?”

Craig snorted. “We’re having dinner, obviously.” 

“And you chose my restaurant! I’m touched, man. I’m touched.”

Kyle watched the abrupt interruption in bemusement, though he got something of an explanation. “Clyde’s my best friend. Clyde, this is Kyle.”

The way Clyde rested his elbows on the table, cupping his chin struck Kyle as odd, but he supposed that the man was just that:  _ odd. _ “Nice to meet you, Kyle. Hey, you all want some cannoli? On the house. Just like everything else, obviously! You money’s no good here, man!”

“Oh. Why not?” It  _ was _ his birthday, after all. Who was he to say no to that? 

Clyde immediately got up to leave, informing them he’d have one of the servers bring some out. Before he left, Craig stopped him. He fished his phone from his pocket, and before he could finish asking whether Clyde would take a photo for him, Clyde was readily agreeing and taking the device from him. 

The photo came out nicely, all things considered: Craig had his arm over Kyle’s shoulders, both smiled at the camera. Cayden and Edith gave each other bunny ears while their faces were still covered in traces of marinara. Cassidee hid her face entirely.

“I like how it turned out,” Kyle commented, leaning against Craig under the ruse of needing a better look at the photo.

“Me too. Mind if I put it on Facebook?” 

“Not at all, go for it.”

Dessert came not long after, as promised, and everything leftover was packed up into to-go boxes. Before they left, Kyle was certain to ensure their server received a nice tip, and then they were loading the kids back up into Craig’s sedan. The drive back was a quiet one. With full stomachs, Cayden was content in simply watching the street lights and Edith dozed.

Apart from the sound of the engine, the only sound was Craig’s music playing softly through the stereo. The interior of the car was illuminated only by the lamps from passing businesses and street lights, but it was more than enough to tell that Craig was driving with a single hand, the other arm resting on the middle console. 

Even though it was a relatively innocent gesture, it was thrilling to reach over and take Craig’s hand in his. Craig squeezed his hand and stroked his thumb over it, and for the rest of the drive they stayed like that. It was nice. Perfect, even.

It came to an end far too soon; Kyle recognized his street immediately, and as soon as Craig pulled into his driveway, Kyle retracted his hand to unbuckle his seatbelt. Craig followed him out of the car, both careful to close the doors gently. Before Kyle opened the back door, Craig caught Kyle’s hand in his again.

Kyle looked over at him wordlessly for a moment, and as cheesy as it was, felt his heart race as Craig leaned in to kiss him, cupping his cheek with his free hand. It was more chaste than anything; a gentle press of their lips. Nothing more, nothing less, but loaded with everything they hadn’t directly acknowledged or discussed.

“Happy Birthday,” Craig murmured as he pulled away.

Kyle felt his cheeks burn, and fortunately had the task of getting his daughter out of the carseat gave him something to focus on instead of dwelling on how stupid he probably looked right then. Edith groaned irritably as he unfastened her and picked her up, but fortunately she clutched his shirt and pressed her face into his shoulder rather than waking up entirely.

He could only hope she stayed that way.

“I can move the carseat back into your car.”

As if Kyle would say no to that; it would have been an immense time saver. “I’d appreciate that, thank you.” He unlocked his car with the keyfob as he walked up the sidewalk to his front door and unlocked it. They exchanged a wave before Craig returned to his car and pulled out of the driveway. 

|  _ Thank you for dinner. I had a nice time. _

Kyle shot off the text some time later, after he’d gotten Edith washed up and ready for bed. He ran the risk of her waking and being up for the rest of the night in doing that, but for once, luck was on his side. She was asleep, the house was quiet, and he was able to relax in his room.

|  _ Me too. _ 😘  
|  _ Cayden was ready to go to bed when we got back, which was great. _

Kyle was beside himself, feeling like an absolute fool with the way he couldn’t help but smile at his phone. It was ridiculous. What was also ridiculous was how eager he was to reply.

|  _ Maybe we should do that more often. _

|  _ Maybe.  
_ |  _ I can’t help but think that it ended a little soon…  _

He glanced toward the doorway. Still met with silence. That was good.

|  _ Well. What if next time, we don’t have the kids with us? You could come up with me _

|  _ Yeah?  
_ |  _ What are you doing right now? _

Kyle swallowed and licked his lips. As comfortable as he was, in his pajamas stretched out on his bed, he had an inkling about where this was going to go. Getting to his feet, he walked over to close and lock his bedroom door. When he returned to his bed, he got nice and comfortable once more.

|  _ Laying in my bed… _

|  __ Me too.  
|  _ I’m lounging. Thinking about you. You looked amazing tonight.  
_ | __ Those jeans you wore? They fit you perfectly. 

| _ Craig Tucker, were you checking me out?  _

|  _ What can I say? You've got the best ass I've _ seen.   
| _Fuck_ , _ I'm getting myself worked up over you.  _

Kyle set his phone aside and rubbed his face, attempting to suppress how flustered he felt in that moment. But fuck, if it didn’t also make him feel a little brazen. It helped that the evening’s events were fresh in his mind; every time they touched had felt electrifying and he could still feel Craig on his lips. He couldn’t help but want more, even if it couldn’t have been physical right then.

|  _ I’m not wearing anything now, though. Want to see? _

It wasn’t true, not yet, but Craig didn’t need to know that. He discarded his phone again, this time in favor of tugging his pajama top over his head and off. His pants soon followed, and while he waited for his phone to buzz again, he ran his hands down his torso. His abs used to be a little more defined, back when he played basketball instead of hardly having a free moment at all.

But he felt that he still looked  _ okay _ , and in any case it felt exhilarating to touch himself like this. When his phone finally buzzed, and the response was an enthusiastic  _ YES,  _ that excitement struck him straight down in the groin. Kyle took care to take a photo that looked nice — as nice as a selfie like this could be. When he felt like he had it — an image with decent lighting, that showed the expanse of his chest and torso, of the red curls framing his hard cock — he sent it off.

And waited.

And waited.

The more time that passed, the more felt a twinge of worry. He confirmed that he had sent it to the correct person, that his phone registered it as having been sent… Kyle just didn’t know why Craig didn’t respond. Five minutes turned to twenty to half an hour, and at that point Kyle decided to force himself to stop being hyper-aware of his phone.

Setting it on his nightstand and plugging it into the charger, he got up to take a quick shower and get ready for bed — to sleep, this time.

 

* * *

 

| _ SORRY. I got a weird phone call _ __  
| _ Fuck, you're so sexy. I wish I was over there...  _ __  
| _ Did you fall asleep?  _   
  
Kyle stared at his phone with bleary eyes as he tried to wake up. Early morning light leaked into his room but it didn't make it any less painful. Morning always came too soon, but at least the weekend would be here soon enough.    
  
He sat up, stretching his arms before he responded. Kyle was reasonable; he knew that something had to come up for Craig not to have immediately responded, but it sucked that it happened a good hour after he fell asleep.    
__  
| Weird how?  __  
__  
| _ The short story: someone told my ex about the photo of us  _ 🙄   
  
As much as he liked Craig, which was quite a bit he was coming to realize, he wasn't sure if this was going to be worth it to pursue this—whatever this was—if his ex was really going to he this much of a problem.    
  
| _ What's the long story? _ __  
__  
| _ Another time.  _   
  
Which was a complete non-answer, and the only thing that lessened the frustration was the photo Craig attached. The bags under his eyes were dark, his hair askew in every which way, but his crooked smile was gorgeous, and his stubble was the exact sort that Kyle wanted to feel against his thighs. That said nothing of the bare shoulders in frame.    
  
There was nothing else to see, which was disappointing and a bit unfair, but it was for the best right now.    
  
|  __ Tease. I have to get ready for work.

After receiving a winking emoji from Craig, he didn’t hear from him for the rest of the morning, which was a good thing. As much as he wanted to indulge in chatting him up, perhaps picking up where they left off last night, there were too many things that took priority over his non-existent sex life. 

Like his daughter. Like his job, which was essential if he was going to continue providing for his daughter in the manner he wanted. The day was a busy one, mostly spent on compiling data for end of the month reports he needed to have submitted before the weekend arrived. For once he felt like he was making progress at the speed he needed; normally his days had a number of interruptions, whether it be phone calls, meetings, or other necessities that broke his focus when he was on a roll.

Today there were minimal unscheduled interruptions, and it came in form of his phone buzzing on his desk an hour and a half before he finished for the day. The only reason he didn’t reject the call was because of who it was.

Brows furrowing, he accepted the call, holding his cell between his ear and shoulder as he attempted to continue working. “Hello?”

“Kyle. Can I ask for a massive favor?” Just from that alone, Kyle could tell that Craig was stressed. More so than he’d seemed in any of the other times they’d spoken, in person or otherwise.

“Maybe. What’s up?” He knew better than to agree to anything without getting more information.

Craig inhaled sharply on the other end. “I need to stay late tonight. We have to get a code live and shit got caught up in legal  _ again. _ ” There was a rant there that he was internalizing. Instead of elaborating, he paused, and got to the point. “My parents can’t come down last minute like this. Cassidee has a study group this evening, and my ex — he just  _ can’t.  _ I was hoping you could watch Cayden. I don’t know how late I’ll be yet, but I can’t very well have him here.”

“Oh. Yeah, dude, I don’t mind.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “He can stay the night if that would be easier for you.”

Letting out a very audible sigh of relief, Craig sounded a lot less frustrated. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

“I can’t check him out, though.”

“Fuck. That’s right. I can leave long enough to get pick him up and drop him off with an overnight bag.” 

They spoke a little longer, hashing out the details. How long it would take to do everything on Craig’s end, what time Kyle usually got home. Yes, Kyle could make sure he ate dinner. No, Cayden didn’t have any known food allergies, and so on. Before they hung up, Kyle knew all the pertinent information he needed, and assured Craig that he would absolutely contact him if something came up. 

It wasn’t long after Kyle got him with his daughter that Craig showed up to drop Cayden off. He opened the front door not long after the bell rang. Craig stood on the front step with Cayden’s backpack and an additional bag. Right beside him was Cayden, already dressed in pajamas. 

“Hi, Kyle!” He demanded a high-five as he squeezed past Kyle through the doorway, disappearing out of the foyer and around the corner to the living room.

“He insisted on changing.” It was the only explanation Craig had for his son’s choice in wardrobe. Their fingertips grazed as Kyle took the bags from Craig, and the zap of electricity served as a reminder of everything hanging between them. The bags were set aside, and Craig stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “I really appreciate you doing this.”

Kyle laced their fingers. “It really isn’t a problem at all. I’m happy to help.” 

Craig brushed his hair back, glancing behind Kyle as if to ensure the coast was clear before looking him over. “I have to admit I’m a little jealous, though.” 

“We’re going to have our hands full, just in different ways.” The success of his evening routine with Edith was hit or miss, often dependent upon factors that were beyond his control. There was only so much he could do, for example, if she refused to sleep. He was absolutely certain that was going to be an issue with her getting to have her best friend over. 

Shaking his head, Craig stepped forward. They were closer, almost touching, but apart from their fingers, not quite. “No, I mean the sleepover.”

“Oh.” Kyle’s heart was racing again, almost immediately overtaken with the headiness of having Craig so close, of being able to smell his cologne. With his free hand, he reached up, brushing his fingertips against the side of Craig’s face. “Another time. Soon, hopefully.”

“Yeah.” Those sharp blues bore into his for a moment, and when Craig leaned in, Kyle wasn’t taken by surprise; his hand slid up, tangling in Craig’s short hair as their lips met. It was a real kiss this time; lips moving and parting and Kyle felt so goddamn touch starved leading up to this moment that he was certain that he was going to burst. 

He took the plunge, brushing his tongue against Craig’s, and as if the levee hadn’t been broken the moment they initially kissed, it only escalated as Craig pinned Kyle against the entryway closet door, pressing flush against him, hands resting on Kyle’s hips.

But the moment was over as abruptly as it began; the moment a loud  _ tatty! _ reached their ears, they immediately parted. Face flushed and breathing heavily, Craig murmured. “I should go.” 

“Yeah.” Kyle watched Craig’s retreat, regulating his breath before locking the front door and heading into the living room. Both of the children were in front of the static-ridden television, taking turns pressing random buttons on the remote in effort to fix it.

“Tatty, the TV’s broken.” Edith wasn’t distressed in the melodramatic way she sometimes exhibited, instead furrowing her brows in an overly serious manner.

Kyle kneeled down beside them and took the remote. After pressing the input button several times, the obnoxious voices from Paw Patrol were back to assault his ears. But if it meant that they stayed entertained long enough to cook dinner, he would willingly suffer. “Look at that. It’s fixed.” 

No response came, as they were both immediately transfixed, which was fine. He had long-since mastered the art of preparing a meal in under twenty minutes, so by the time the episode ended, he was ready to sit them down at the table. The meal went about as he expected, and while they didn’t behave any worse than they normally did, Kyle was looking forward to bedtime.

He counted down the minutes to 7:30 as he cleaned the kitchen and prepared Edith’s room. After a lot of consideration, the best course of action seemed to be letting them sleep on opposite ends of the bed. There was a spare room, but he didn’t know what Cayden’s sleeping habits were like. At least Edith’s bed was low to the ground, so if he rolled off, he wouldn’t get hurt.

Teeth were brushed and a story read, it was time to go to bed. Cayden had other ideas. “It’s not my bedtime yet.”

Kyle shook his head and ushered him into Edith’s room and ensured they were both properly tucked in. “Your daddy already told me when your bedtime is, and it’s now, kiddo.” 

Cayden sank down into the blankets and turned on his side as he looked up at Kyle. “I want him. Gotta tell him g’night.”

“He’s working right now. We can call him and see if he can talk. Would you like that?” When Cayden nodded, Kyle pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed him. Craig sounded concerned when he answered, but once Kyle explained the situation, he was more than willing to take the time to talk to Cayden for a few minutes.

When the call ended, Cayden seemed better, and after Kyle told them both good night a final time, he retreated across the hall to his own room with a book. The failed attempts at whispers still reached his ears, but eventually they faded. It was at that point that he checked in on them and confirmed they were both asleep. 

Craig was still at work when Kyle passed that information along, and opted not to distract him further after that. Instead, he continued his own evening routine, and when morning came too early as it always did, Kyle had twice the chaos in getting small children out of the house. If he had anything to be grateful for in that moment, it was that he didn’t have twins. 

The work week wrapped up quickly, and for that Kyle was relieved; it was refreshing to be able to sleep in until seven. He would have preferred later, but as soon as he felt tiny hands patting his cheeks and a whisper for him to wake up, that was the end of it. 

He clenched his eyes before he managed to open them properly, peering over at his daughter, who had climbed onto his bed at some point, resting her head on his pillow. "What?" Words weren't his strong suit when he was first waking up.    
  
"I want pancakes."   
  
Kyle rubbed his eyes and sat up. That wasn't a difficult task, and as soon as he got moving and got coffee, he'd feel more functional. "You're going to have to help me."   
  
Which was an answer that seemed to thrill Edith. After responding with an affirmative, she jumped off the bed and ran down the hall to the stairs.    
  
Cooking with Edith was something he felt he never did enough; it invoked memories of cooking with his mother, who taught him everything she knew over the years. Perhaps, when she was older he'd be able to do the same. Ultimately he wanted her to grow up to be healthy, successful, and most importantly, self-sufficient.    
  
Once downstairs and in the kitchen, Kyle set her up on the small step ladder that he stored in the pantry. When set up against the counter, it allowed her to be tall enough to mix the flour, eggs, and other ingredients in the mixing bowl.    
  
She was far from exceptional in her ability to do this, and some of the mixture got flung onto the counter. That was anticipated, so after giving her time to try it herself, Kyle held his hand over hers, directing her on how to properly stir so the ingredients mixed evenly.    
  
The actual cooking took no time at all, and once completed, the two sat at the breakfast table with their pancakes, along with orange juice and fruit. Edith was content with her food, and once she was finished, he was certain to quickly get her cleaned up before syrupy hands could on anything else.   
  
Following that, he set her up with a movie in the living room while he gathered dirty clothes and towels from throughout the house to start laundry. It was only when he was folding clothes from the dryer that he realized some of Cayden's clothes didn't make it back in his overnight bag.   
  
Really, it was just a pair of socks. It probably could have just waiting until Monday; he could have easily just stuck them in Edith's backpack, but...    
  
| _ I found a pair of Cayden's firetruck socks. They're clean. Do you want them?  _ __  
__  
| _ You know, those are his favorite pair. If you've got time, it really would be important to have them back as soon as possible.  _ __  
__  
| _ In that case, I could drop them off today.  _ __  
__  
| _ I wouldn't want you to go out of your way just to do that. You could both stay awhile and have dinner. Not to brag or anything, but I know the best restaurants to order from.  _ __  
__  
| __ Now I'm absolutely going to have to take you up on that .    
  
The banter continued, but Kyle ultimately agreed to come over once he finished the chores he intended to complete for the day.    
  
He hadn't been to Craig's before, but it was on the other side of Boulder, part of a large stretch of townhouses. It was a nice area, and though there was only a small patch of grass as a front yard, there was a decent playground directly across the street.    
  
With Edith's hand in his, he walked to the front step and rang the doorbell. Craig answered, and seeing the clean pair of socks in Kyle's hand, Craig reached for it, dragging his fingertips along Kyle's palm with intent. "Thanks for this. He would have been really torn up otherwise."   
  
"Of course." He felt his cheeks burn.   
  
Craig ushered them inside into a cozy living room. Within view was a combined kitchen and dining room area, and directly ahead were the stairs leading to the second floor. He squatted down to Edith’s level as she looked around with wide eyes.

“Craig, do you live here?” She sounded almost incredulous.

“I do. Cayden does, too. Do you want to go play?” When she responded enthusiastically, he shot Kyle a small smile and straightened, leading them upstairs. The first door they passed was obviously Cassidee’s: the door was closed, but laden with various ‘keep out’ signs. Music was playing loudly enough within that Kyle doubted she even knew the doorbell rang just moments prior. The next was an open one with toy trucks and wooden railroad pieces scattered everywhere. 

All it took was Cayden realizing his friend was there and he was more than eager to tug her into his room, insistent to show her all of his toys. Kyle and Craig watched them for a moment, and when it was more than clear that they would be content for a while, Craig gave him a sideways nod and headed back downstairs.

“Your place is nice too.” 

“Thanks. Do you want a coffee?”

Kyle agreed, following him into the kitchen. It was such a mundane thing, but he found himself enjoying his observation of Craig; he liked the way he moved, the way pulled down mugs and brewed their coffee. He couldn’t explain why, he just did. 

“What are you staring at?” Craig raised a brow at him once he finally noticed.

He felt bold. “You.” 

Craig didn’t look at him as he grinned, instead pouring liquid gold into the mugs. “Good.”

They both fixed their coffees to their tastes: Kyle with a splash of condensed milk and a single spoonful of sugar, Craig with enough flavored creamer that his coffee was a milky light brown that hardly resembled coffee at all. Settling at the bar separating the kitchen from the dining area, they drank in relative silence. From upstairs, there was still enough sound to know two things: that Cassidee still had her music playing, and that the younger ones were loud enough to know that they weren’t getting into anything they needn’t. 

Kyle sat at an angle so one of his knees pressed against Craig’s. As he took a long sip of his coffee, he spied Craig’s free hand and took it in his own, stroking his thumb slowly.

“You know,” Craig said slowly, twisting in his chair so he was more directly facing Kyle. “When I was asking about Frasca, I was asking you on a date.”

It felt like an epiphany, and a completely embarrassing one at that. For all his intelligence, there were simply some things that Kyle didn’t grasp. Social cues like that were among them. “I — _ what. _ ” He paused. God. He was just really oblivious sometimes. “That — that makes sense, in hindsight. You did kiss me.”

He chuckled. “True. We can say that counted.”  Craig squeezed his hand. “But I’d still like to take you out one night, without the kids.” 

“I’d like that too.” Kyle felt that rapid thrumming in his chest that he always seemed to feel around Craig. It was like high school all over again. “But I don’t know when yet. There’s the whole...sitter, thing.”

Craig was quiet for a moment. “I get it, don’t worry.” 

Something about his tone distressed him. “I do want to. My mother’s just still out of town and Heidi hasn’t been able to help and I’m not at all comfortable leaving my kid with a stranger — ”

“Kyle.” Craig set aside his mug and cupped Kyle’s cheeks. His eyes reminded Kyle of the ocean. When he pressed his lips against his, Kyle felt his tension wash away. “You don’t have to explain. I’m patient. I can wait until you’re able.”

He curled his fingers around Craig’s wrist, grazing over the soft skin there. Craig was still close enough that their noses brushed against one another as Kyle leaned back in. His lips moved slowly against Craig’s. It was sweet, both metaphorically, literally, due to Craig’s preference of overly sweet coffee. But it was nice. 

More than that, even, especially when Craig’s long fingers tangled into Kyle’s curls, tugging just enough that Kyle gasped —

The thumping of footsteps combined with Cassidee calling for Craig made that kiss come to an abrupt halt. She was still on the foot of the stairs, looking toward the dining area when she saw “Dad, do you want — _ Oh. _ ” It wasn’t a good oh but a clipped one, as if her entire day was now ruined. Perhaps it was. “Nevermind.”

“What’s up?” Craig was quick to respond before she could retreat to her room. Kyle saw her shrug, and that was when Craig walked over, leaning against the railing. The two spoke in hushed tones, and Kyle made a point of trying not to listen in, instead checking his phone notifications. 

That only changed when Craig said his name, and he looked over. “Down for Uno?” 

“Sure.” 

The three settled on the living room floor around the coffee table rather than on the couch or nearby arm chair. Craig shuffled the deck, dealt the cards. The first few rounds were quiet, with the only discussion between any of them directly related to the game. Eventually, though, that changed.

"Dad said you work in big pharma." Cassidee played a red three.    
  
Kyle looked down at his hand. The only red card he had was a skip, ensuring Craig lost his turn. "I do."   
  
She played a draw two. "I can't believe there's a real life Martin Shkreli in my home. Do you enjoy price gouging and making medicine unaffordable for people?"   
  
"Cass." It was a warning tone from Craig, who finally had a chance to play after Kyle drew his cards.    
  
"I work in research and development. I don't make those calls."   
  
"But you  _ would _ pay a lot of money for a Wu Tang Clan album, wouldn't you?"

She got him there, and that was a little mortifying. He hadn’t expected a high schooler to be well-read enough to have a zinger like that. But here he was, absolutely gobsmacked. He stared at her for a moment, and cleared his throat. “Well, soon enough you’ll be an adult and will have the opportunity to decide for yourself how you want to earn a living.” 

“I already make money from my art, thanks. Uno.”

Kyle didn’t think that was a viable career choice at all, but far be it from him to point that out to a kid that wasn’t his. Instead he played a wild card to change the color. “More power to you.” Craig played a card, bringing it back around to Cassidee.

“My dad could do it, so I can too.” She played the final card in her hand. “I win. Another round?”

They played a few more hands, some lasting longer than others. The only breaks in the game play was when Craig paused to order dinner, and a bit later when he went upstairs to check on the little ones. Silence fell between Cassidee and Kyle in that time, with opting to stare at their phones rather than forcing a conversation. 

Erratic banging on the front door interrupted that silence. Assuming it was their dinner, Kyle got to his feet and headed over. He was met face-to-face with an unshaven man with wild blond hair. Nowhere in sight was the expected delivery. 

Before Kyle could inquire further, the man spoke up. “Who the  _ fuck _ are you?”

“I should be asking the same. You’re obviously not UberEats.” 

“Ugh,” the man grunted irritably, attempting to look over Kyle’s shoulder. “Where’s Craig?”

Cassidee was on her feet and heading over at that point. “Dad?” Kyle glanced over his shoulder to her, then back to the other man. It wasn’t his place to let him in or prevent him from it, and when he saw Craig jogging down the stairs, he felt something of relief in at least being able to deflect responsibility onto him.

It didn’t make things any less awkward.

A headnod from Craig assured Kyle that it was fine, and he stepped aside so Tweek could enter. He embraced his daughter, but parted quickly when Craig approached. 

“What are you doing here, Tweek?” Craig’s posture was tense as he stepped between Tweek and the others.

_ Tweek? _ In any other circumstance, Kyle would have been inclined to inquire whether that was actually a name, or some kind of ill-spirited nickname. He supposed, though, if someone had that as a given name...well, it explained a lot. 

“I want to see my kids.” As he said that, he and Craig moved into the kitchen for a semblance of privacy, though the way their voices carried, it didn’t make a difference. It was an awkward position to be in, but after a moment, Kyle moved back to the couch with Cassidee. The girl’s face was pale, her gaze fixated on the coffee table. “Wanna take ‘em to the museum. The one in Denver.” 

“Which? There’s at least twenty of them.”  Before Tweek responded, Craig continued. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. You didn’t call, and we have plans.” 

“ _ Plans? _ What plans? Letting  _ our _ children be around the guy you’re  _ fucking! _ What gives you the right — ”

“We’re not — ” Craig cut himself off. “Fucking hell, Tweek. I’m not being unreasonable for wanting you to call first.”

“I was on the farm.”

“ _ What _ farm.”

This wasn’t a conversation that Kyle wanted to be overhearing. It was uncomfortable, and it felt invasive. Intimate, but in the worst way, especially as their tones got louder, their words angrier. Craig stepped into the space between the kitchen and living room, face flushed and jaw clenched. “Kyle. Cass. Take the kids and go outside. Please.” 

As much as Kyle didn’t enjoy to be told what to do, this was one of those situations where he was more than willing to follow that request and not be around this. More importantly, he didn’t want Cayden and Edith to be around it, either. 

“We’ll take them to the park,” he told Cassidee, patting her on the back as he headed upstairs to Cayden’s room. The sounds of their argument were muted up here, at least, but it wasn’t as though the children were unaware of the noise. 

“What’s happening?” Edith asked as Kyle helped her get her shoes on.

“The grown ups are just talking loudly. We’re going to the park with Cassidee. Doesn’t that sound fun?” It was the distraction that the four-year-olds needed, and taking both of their hands, he led them downstairs to the front door. 

Unfortunately, plenty could be heard as he ushered all three of the kids through the front door. They didn't quite make it easy for him either; Edith wrapped herself around his leg as he walked just because she could, and Cayden had to be carried out as he flailed and called for his daddy.

“It’s been under a  _ month? _ You’re  _ INSANE.” _ It had escalated into a screaming match at this point.

“ _ NO, I’M NOT. STOP SAYING THAT. _ ”

Kyle finally felt like he could breathe once the door was closed. The yelling was muted again, and he could better focus on making sure the kids were okay. Cassidee and Cayden looked visibly shaken, but Edith, on the other hand…

“Tatty, who was that?” 

He didn’t want to lie to her so after a moment, he answered honestly. “That was Cayden and Cassidee’s dad.” 

She scoffed in response. “How come they get to have  _ two _ daddies?” 

He squeezed her hand. “We can talk about it later. But right now, I think Cayden needs you to go be a nice friend, alright?” She understood, and once they were within the chain-link fence of the park, she ran over to Cayden.

“Are you alright?” 

Cassidee glanced over at him and shrugged. He didn’t push it, and instead they stood quietly beside one another until Cayden, much more chipper after playing for a few minutes, called them over. “Sissy! Kyle! Swing us!”

“Alright,” Kyle agreed readily, helping them onto the swings. He and Cassidee swung them, and the children screeched excitedly. 

“They always do this.”

It didn’t take much for him to figure out that it wasn’t the children she was talking about at all. He pushed Edith when she swung back toward him. “My parents did too when I was growing up.” They shared a glance. “Almost always in their bedroom. I think they thought that my brother and I couldn’t hear them in the middle of the night, but we did.”

“It sucks.”

“Yeah. But look — it’ll get better. Don’t forget that.”

Cassidee’s response was a nod, and the conversation came to a halt there, which was fine. Kyle didn’t expect her to confide in him, especially not any more than she had. Instead, she eventually planted herself atop the jungle gym after Edith and Cayden tired of swinging. In the meantime, Kyle leaned against the metal frame of the swing, focused entirely on the scene before him.

That changed when the gate squeaked. Looking over his shoulder, he expected to see Craig, but instead it was Tweek. The scruffy man headed toward him, which instinctively caused Kyle to stiffen. “It’s Kyle, right?” 

“Yeah.” Kyle’s response was stiff, his eyes narrowed. The man’s demeanor was completely different in comparison to how he was within Craig’s home, but that didn’t make him any less wary. He didn’t want a fight himself, but he wasn’t one to back down either. 

Tweek rubbed the back of his neck. “Look — I’m. I’m sorry about earlier. I don’t like, being like that, yanno? I just — sometimes…um, anyway. Craig, uh, he said that your kid and ours are really close. That’s cool.”

“Oh. Yeah. They enjoy spending time together.”

Kyle watched the other man chew on the inside of the cheek. “And I guess… you and Craig do too.”

As if this couldn’t get more awkward. It was something that he tried not to think about too much, and it was an even more uncomfortable to confront when talking to Craig’s ex. “I guess so.”

“That’s...that’s good, too.” An awkward silence followed, before Tweek finally mumbled something that Kyle didn’t quite catch, and ventured toward his kids. He spoke them for a while, hugged them.

Eventually, Craig emerged from across the street as well, though he remained on the sidelines beside Kyle. He was quiet as well, and though he stood close by, it felt formal. Rigid. “So. Dinner arrived in the middle of that. It’s gone cold, but we can reheat it in the oven.”

It was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but it was a welcome distraction all the same. “I’m sure that’ll be fine.”

The summer sun began to wane when Tweek eventually left, slipping into the passenger seat of a dingy sedan, and at that point Craig and Kyle ushered the kids across the street. Dinner reheated, the five of them ate together at Craig’s dining room table. The kids were quick to leave after to return to playing or whatever else. It left Craig and Kyle to clean up, and Kyle didn’t really mind that. 

As he washed the tabletop, Craig swept the floor. “I’m sorry that you saw me like that earlier. And Tweek, for that matter.” He paused in his sweeping, and Kyle gave him the same courtesy. “He’s not a bad guy — I don’t want you to think of him as that. He’s just...ill, and at this point we bring out the worst in each other.”

“What do you mean by ill?”

Craig hesitated. “Like he’s not stable when he doesn’t take his medicine.”

It was vague, but not so much that Kyle didn’t understand. “I hope he gets better.”

“I do too.”

They finished cleaning, and not long after, it was time to leave. Kyle didn’t want to overstay his welcome, and after such an eventful day, he was more than ready to get Edith off to bed and head that way himself. 

The drive home wasn’t a long one in the grand scheme of things, but it was one that felt like an eternity with so much weighing on him. It wasn’t just what he’d seen, but the emotions he felt, the things he’d had to confront. He wasn’t sure if he had been ready for it, but even in just vaguely admitting things to Tweek, he was forced to deal with the ramifications. 

It was in his head now, and he needed to voice it.

Even if the only person he could voice it to was a four-year-old who was completely unable to understand. “Edith… do you like Craig? I think… I know, I like him a lot. I want him in our lives more, but if you don’t like him, there’s no point. I wouldn’t see him anymore, not like  _ that.” _

He glanced back at her through the rearview mirror, to see she was far more interested in playing with one of her toys than what he had to say. But, she did at least respond. “Craig does airplanes higher than you.”

That was as good of an answer as any.

 

* * *

 

By mid-June, the summer days were longer, and on the weekends it was nice to have the extra daylight. It meant that Edith could play at the park outside of the heat of the day without having the lack of sunlight get in the way. The downside was that when Kyle absolutely needed her to stick to her sleep schedule, it was difficult to convince her to sleep at her bedtime when the sun was still high in the sky.

Blackout curtains didn’t even help because Edith was still smart enough to pull them back to point out that it was still light outside. What resulted was a cycle of dealing with a child who consistently refused to sleep until much later than she should have, who was then more prone to moodiness and misbehaving. 

The much-needed reprieve came when Heidi called him one evening.

“I have a break between the two summer terms. I have about a week and a half where I’d love to take Edith. I wanted to sooner, but you know. It’s been busy.”

_ It’s been busy. _ Kyle understood the sentiment, and he understood how taxing it was to be working on a doctorate. But he couldn’t help but feel a little resentment at the implication that he  _ hadn’t _ been busy and stretched thin, whether that was intended or not. “That’s fine. She’d love to see you.”

“Oh, good. I can pick her up Thursday evening.” She paused. “How have things been? Well, I hope.”

“I mean… It’s been alright.” He wasn’t sure what to say; they were on amicable terms, but it wasn’t like they were friends anymore. Not like they were before they pursued their romantic relationship. It was weird to talk about anything beyond custody arrangements. 

“I’m glad to hear it — good birthday? I’m sorry I didn't call. It just felt, I don’t know, kind of weird?”

At least they were on the same page with that.  “It was nice. I kind of went on a date?”

“Oh. That’s good. That you’re getting out there. Are they nice?”

Kyle swallowed, nodding, but of course realized immediately after that, she couldn’t see that. “Yeah. He’s. He’s great. His kid’s good friends with Edith, so that’s convenient.” 

“Kyle.”

“What.”

“You’re not compromising our daughter’s friendships for this guy — ”

“Dude, no.” He rubbed the side of his face. “It doesn’t even mean anything...serious. It’s just. We’re still figuring it out. Her happiness is more important no matter what. You know know that.” 

“Okay. Good. Good luck with it all.”

They talked a little longer, and when the call ended, he looked down at his desk calendar, blocking off the days that Edith was supposed to be with Heidi. It was the first real break he’d had in months, and he was looking forward to it. He would be able to sleep in as long as he wanted on the weekends, and there were a lot of chores he could do around the house without having his efforts immediately for naught.

Of course, there were other reasons why this prospect of not having his kids for a brief stint. When he had his lunch break, he finally had a moment to address that, too.

| _ Still interested in that date? _

| _ Absolutely. When are you thinking? _

Kyle looked over his calendar once more. There were so many options on his end, but at the end of the day, the best thing to do was to just offer a range of dates and see what worked best. Cassidee wasn’t in school, so theoretically she could babysit… but he was also more than aware that she probably wouldn’t want to.

|  _ Starting Thursday evening, I won’t have my daughter for a little over a week. This weekend is on the table, as is any other time. Up to you. _

Craig left him on read for about twenty minutes, giving Kyle plenty of time to enjoy his salad. The response that came gave him a cheesy fluttering feeling.

|  _ My parents will have the kids this weekend. I’m all yours. _

|  _ I can’t wait. Is there anything in particular you’d like to do? Denver’s probably got shows going on. _

| _ This is lame, but honestly what sounds great is just being able to see a solidly rated-R movie. One that says fuck at least ten times. _

| _ Dude I’d give my right arm to see something that doesn’t involve animated dogs, princesses, or musical numbers about being kind to others _

| _ Then it’s settled. Friday night. ;) _

Kyle couldn’t wait for it. It was revitalizing; work wasn’t as dreadful, nor were his other stresses through the rest of the week because he had something to look forward to. Edith was excited to go spend time with her mother, and Kyle was thrilled to have the opportunity to get out of the house. 

Excited, but also nervous. It wasn’t for any reason other than the fact that it was a date. A proper one, no misunderstandings about it. He knew he liked Craig. He liked Craig  _ a lot. _ His eagerness to spend time with him outweighed his nervousness that this was his first real date in what felt like ages. 

It didn’t stop him from getting ready in a particularly meticulous fashion when Friday evening rolled around. Before he left the house to pick Craig up, he ensured there wasn’t a wrinkle in his shirt, not a curl out of place — even if that required pomade than he was inclined to admit. His nerves were shot, though, and it took sheer force of will to ignore that jittery feeling overtaking him.

Once he picked Craig up — who just looked devastatingly handsome — the feeling subsided, as they spent the drive talking. Lulls in conversation were filled with Kyle rapping quietly along to his music until they arrived at the restaurant they’d chosen for dinner. It went well, with them enjoying one another without having to supervise their children. They discussed their days, their interests. Some of it stream of consciousness, some of it fueled by intentional questions. 

The drive from the restaurant to the cinema was a short one, but it was pleasant with Craig's hand in his. The movie itself was an adrenaline-packed, filled with more swears, explosions, and overall violence than Kyle had seen in a while.    
  
It was just really nice to see a movie catered to an adult audience with another adult.    
  
His hand rested on Craig's thigh, their sides pressed together as they'd quickly decided to forego the armrest. Craig's hand rested on his as well. For a long while, it was just that.    
  
Then Craig's hand moved inward, fingers curling along the underside of his thigh so they were nearly wedged between Kyle's jeans and the seat. The movie progressed. Kyle idly traced his fingertips over the top of Craig's leg.   
  
None of their touches were ones of consequence, but they were thrilling. Kyle felt his heart racing, felt an excitement that had nothing at all to do with the film. It was made worse — or better — when Craig leaned over, pressing his lips against the side of his neck just below his hairline.   
  
A surge of electricity ran down his spine, and he responded with a firm squeeze of Craig's thigh, fingertips and blunt nails digging in. Craig stiffened, releasing a measured breath. Lesser men would have given in to the most base instincts like teenagers in the top row of seats.    
  
But they held it together. It went no further, and once they were back in Kyle's car, his eyes flitted over Craig as his heart raced. "What would you like to do?" Kyle knew what he wanted, but he was prepared for the possibility of Craig wanting to be dropped back off at his house.   
  
"We could pick up a bottle of wine. Watch another movie, somewhere..." Craig's voice trailed off.    
  
"I have wine at home."   
  
"Then we go there."

The house was dark when they walked to the front steps. Craig's hand brushed against his side as Kyle unlocked the door and disarmed the security system. He turned on a lamp following that, and door closing behind them, Kyle led Craig to the living room.    
  
The remote rested in clear view on the coffee table, which Kyle gestured to. "Pick out something and I'll get the wine. Do you take it like you do your coffee?"    
  
Craig's response was a scoff, thought with a twitch of his lips, Kyle knew he was far from put off. "I wouldn't object to that."    
  
"Lucky for you, then." Kyle left him there, retreating to the kitchen for the sweet wine he had chilling in the fridge. Truly, he wasn't completely anticipating them coming here, but he liked to be prepared. If it had gone about a different way, he would've finished it off himself over the weekend anyway.    
  
Pouring two generous glasses of wine, he returned to the living room. Craig lounged on the couch with a movie queued. It didn't matter what it was; Netflix was just a pretense at this point.    
  
Craig's fingers brushed against Kyle's as he took one of the glasses. "Thanks, honey."   
  
"Oh." Kyle felt his cheeks burning, and felt like he stood there far too long before he sat down beside Craig. He didn't do pet names, not really, not even when he was married.    
  
Craig obscured the side of his face with his hand. "Sorry. It just slipped out. I'll be more — "   
  
"No. It's okay. It was cute."  _ Craig _ was cute.

Kyle's cheeks were still burning when he say down beside Craig, who started the movie and casually draped his arm over his shoulders. It was comfortable, and as Kyle drank his wine and watched the movie, he ran his hand over Craig's thigh as he'd done in the cinema.   
  
But it  _ was _ a little different this time. There wasn't a need for decorum, no need to worry about anyone seeing them. So Kyle let his hand wander further upward. His hand eventually settled on his upper thigh and he extended one of his fingers, brushing it against Craig's crotch.    
  
Craig shifted, and with the way Kyle could feel him hardening against the side of his hand, he knew it was intentional. It made his mouth dry, his heart race, and when Kyle looked over at him, Craig was resting his head against the back of the couch, watching him.    
  
He felt himself throb.   
  
Kyle shifted, turning onto his side to better face Craig. As they maintained eye contact, Kyle reached over, palm resting on his crotch, rubbing his thumb firmly along the side of his cock.    
  
Lips parting, Craig urged Kyle closer, and in a nearly fluid moment, Kyle was straddling Craig. Their lips met, and what started as a gentle kiss, quickly became more heated. Craig tasted sweet, like the wine they shared, and Kyle wanted more.   
  
"Can I take you upstairs?" Kyle felt breathless as the kiss broke and he looked into those gorgeous blues.    
  
Craig's hands ran over his sides, along his back. "Oh fuck.  _ Yes _ . I want you so badly."

Kyle felt willing to give him the world if it meant that he'd use that tone with him one more time. But rather than entertaining that thought for much longer, he got up to his feet. Lacing Craig's fingers with his, he tugged Craig to his feet.   
  
Squeezing his hand, he led him upstairs and down the hall to his bedroom. He'd not had another adult in his room since Heidi moved out, and he was brimming with anticipation having Craig up here with him.    
  
Flicking the lights on, he led Craig to the side of his bed. He untangled his fingers at that point and turned to face Craig. As he cupped Craig's cheeks, kissing him once more, Craig's hands rested on his hips. His fingertips slid underneath Kyle's shirt, sliding over smooth skin.    
  
Making a soft sound into the kiss, Kyle's hands slid back into Craig's hair, tangling into it as Craig's hands slid upward, eventually tugging Kyle's shirt off overhead.

Craig's shirt followed, and as Kyle's eyes scanned over his chest, he felt his cock twitch with interest. He was  _ beautiful _ . Kyle had known that before, and his fondness for the other man endeared him even more. But it was the first time that he'd seen him like this.    
  
He slid his hands over his chest, fingers gliding over the dips of his muscles, nestling into the trail of dark hair on his abdomen. Craig leaned in, kissing him once more as they unfastened each other's pants with care, tugging them and their underwear off.

“I’ve wanted this for so long.” Craig murmured the words against the shell of Kyle’s ear, tugging Kyle firmly against him while his hands rested against his ass, squeezing.

It was a double whammy for him. The words made his heart thrum, the contact made him feel like he was aflire. “Me too,” he admitted, and when they kissed once more, he lost himself in the sensation of his body pressed against Craig’s. The sheer relief of being touched like this, of being kissed like this after so long overtook him.   
  
Kyle couldn’t say how long they stood there like that, but at least eventually one of them remembered there was a bed right beside them. Craig flopped back onto the mattress, pulling Kyle with him. It was a bit awkward, required some rearranging before Kyle had Craig properly pinned beneath him. It didn’t detract from the moment between them; instead, they laughed.

He pressed a kiss to the side of Craig’s neck, and when he lifted his head, they exchanged a smile. They touched each other everywhere they could reach. Kyle ran a hand under Craig’s thigh as he rocked against him. Craig’s hands ran over Kyle’s body, over his sides and back, his chest, rolling his thumbs over his nipples.

The room filled with the sounds of their moans and heavy breathing and little else until Craig spoke, dragging his fingers along the side of his jaw. “Kyle.”

“Yeah?” Kyle paused in his movements, peering down at the other man.

His fingers twisted in Kyle’s curls, guiding him down for a slow kiss. “I want you to fuck me. I haven’t bottomed in over a year, and I — ”

Kyle laughed, one of sheer relief. He cupped Craig’s cheeks and kissed him sweetly. “I’ll do that for you.”

“What’s so funny?”

Kyle pulled away, sitting on the edge of the bed as he dug through his nightstand drawer for lube and a condom. “It’s not  _ actually _ funny. I’m just — dude, I haven’t taken a dick in like six or seven years. I’m just kind of glad I have time to work up to that.” 

Craig snorted something ugly, but as Kyle felt his eyes on him and his hand trailing down his spine, he found it endearing. “I can work you open in a way that’ll have you begging for me.” 

Retrieving what he needed, he slid between Craig’s legs, leaning over to kiss him. Already he felt addicted to that mouth. “I don’t doubt it.” But that was for another time. He was sticking to the plan they’d just arranged. Slicking down his fingers, he teased Craig’s hole, watching his Adam’s apple bob.

The moment he pressed a finger in, he watched Craig. He memorized the way his face scrunched up, the way he swore under his breath. It was perfect.  _ He _ was perfect.    
  
Kyle licked his lips and flitted his gaze downward, taking in the sight of Craig's body before him. He finally got to Craig's cock, and in seeing the thick vein in the underside and leaking tip, his mouth watered. He could have leaned over, dragged his tongue along the length of him, taking him down deep —   
  
He could have, and he was tempted to.    
  
There were too many things he wanted to do with Craig, and while he wanted to do them all  _ now _ , he also knew that if things went in the best possible way, he could have a weekend with him.    
  
So for now, he resisted, instead adding a second finger. As he stretched Craig open, he leaned up, kissing Craig deeply. Craig moaned into the kiss, clutching onto Kyle's shoulders, hips jerking upward as Kyle's fingers curled within him.    
  
"Kyle — _ fuck _ _ — _ I need more. I need y _ ou _ ."    
  
He could hardly remember the last time anyone said that to him, and like that, and he was more than willing to oblige. Because fuck if he didn't want Craig, too. He was aching for him.   
  
Making quick work of the wrapper, he rolled the condom onto his dick, slicked himself down with more lube. As soon as he was ready, he pressed in, slowly, carefully.    
  
It'd been so long since he'd been with anyone, and Craig was so hot and tight around him that it felt like a miracle that he didn't come right then. Kyle heard himself say  _ something _ , but it was so nonsensical, and he was so out of his head right then that he couldn't be certain what it was.    
  
Craig's hands ran over his arms, his back, everywhere the man could reach. He let it be known when he wanted more: grabbing Kyle's ass, he squeezed his cheeks and pulled him closer.    
  
Kyle's thrusts were slow and deep, pulling out until only the top of his cock within him before pushing back in. His breathing was erratic, his moans completely unrestrained as he lost himself in the moment.   
  
Strong hands tugged him further down, nails digging into his back. It felt like Craig was holding onto him as if his life depended upon it, and Kyle hoped he didn't let go.    
  
Leaning close, they kissed once more. It was just a bit too much then, and in the end Kyle rested his forehead against Craig's, maintaining eye contact as the sweat-slick sound of their bodies moving against each other filled the room.    
  
He never wanted this to end, but as they continued, it was inevitable. He could feel that clawing feeling within him, could feel Craig's breathing grow more ragged, his own movements grow more fervent.   
  
"Like that," Craig groaned when Kyle angled his hips and wrapped his hand around Craig's thick cock, determined to finish him off. The way Craig tilted his head back with a loud moan, the way he shot white-hot against him did more than help Kyle along.    
  
He came not long after, burying his face against Craig's neck, continuing to fuck him through his orgasm. Kyle rolled onto his back afterwards, immediately reaching for a tissue to wipe off his chest. His tied-off condom immediately followed it into the waste bin beside his bed.    
  
His heart was still racing and he still felt like he couldn't catch his breath when he rolled onto his side to look at Craig. Flushed and panting, he looked better to Kyle than he ever had before.    
  
"Fuck," Kyle blurted, rubbing his face. "I really, really like you."   
  
"No shit." Craig chuckled and rolled over, pressing their foreheads together again as he stroked his thumb over Kyle's hip. "I've never been fucked like that by someone who didn't."    
  
The way Craig smiled at him made his heart ache in the best way. He felt  _ cheesy _ . "I want to see where this goes with you. I'm too busy for flings. I want to see if this means something."    
  
Craig shifted just enough to brush their noses together. "I do too."


End file.
